Proverbs 3:1-8; 2 Corinthians 4:7-10; St John 1:43-51
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Our Lord spotted him under a fig tree. And for that, Nathanael, son of Tolmay, declares Him to be the Son of God, the King of Israel. He is confessing that the Man who stands before him is YHWH in the flesh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the One who walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day and called to Adam and Eve, seeking them out. For having sinned they were ashamed of themselves and tried to paper over their guilt with fig leaves.
But now, by the invitation of Philipp, Nathanael, or as others call him, Bartholomew, is drawn out of the shadow of the fig tree, out of the shadow of death, out of darkness and brought to Jesus, the Light of the world. For He is the Light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. And Nathanael, whose name means, “God has given,” has now been given true faith and a good confession. Even if he doesn’t yet comprehend its fullness.
What of you? What is your condition? In what shadowy darkness do you hide? Under what tree do you seek shelter? Do you find your rest in complaining about others and stewing on their slights? Is your respite in running into the arms of another who is not your wife? Crawling into the darkness of pornography? Drugs? Drinking?
Don’t waste time hiding from your sins. Don’t bother papering over them with figs leaves of lies and excuses. Our Lord sees right through them. He sees right through you. He knows our hearts. We are filled with guile. With deceit. With trickery.
Yet in mercy He still calls you, as He did Philip, saying, Follow Me. He uses the simple invitation of another, Come and see. It ought not be called a “program,” but here, dear Christians, is the greatest evangelism ever. No door-to-door solicitation. No cajoling or scare tactics. No false promises or bait and switch routines. Just a simple invitation: Come and see. Come and see the One of whom Moses preached and the prophets foretold. Come and see the One of whom Solomon spoke and in whom David trusted. Come and see.
And it is not a single use invitation. Not a one-time encounter. You can never say, “I am baptized, that should suffice. I was confirmed, that’s enough catechesis. I’m good.” We can never say, “I can stay away from Church for awhile. It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Our Lord calls Nathanael a “true Israelite,” so as to distinguish him from the false Israelites. From those who boast in their lineage and brag concerning their descendancy from Abraham. They are his children by blood, yes, but not according to the faith. They are false Israelites.
So too their are false Christians. They boast in the same way. “We are baptized and bear the name Christian.” But they do not remain swimming in their Baptism and the pure teaching of forgiveness of sins and the promise of Christ. Rather they fall away into despair and other great shame and vice, neglecting the preached Word.
The genuine Israelite has the promise of Abraham and the faith of Abraham. Studies Moses and the prophets. Seeks the coming Christ as we see in Philip and Nathanael. Jesus found them. But did you hear what Philip said? We found Him. That’s how it feels! We didn’t know what we were missing, but we found Him. It is the same with the Christian in whom their is no deceit, no guile. “When baptized they give ear to the Gospel, read the Holy Scripture, partake of Holy Communion, and love their neighbor” (AE 22:197).
Solomon catechizes his son this way. My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
St Paul learned this lesson well. Our Lord knew him. As He knew Nathanael. He called him on the road to Damascus. He taught this son of Israel what is meant to suffer for His namesake. In affliction and perplexity. In despair and persecution. For only them, in weakness, is God glorified. As he writes later to the Christians in Corinth: To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:7-9).
Nathanael, or as we call him, Bartholomew, likewise learned of this weakness. According to the ancient Church, Bartholomew carried the Gospel of Jesus to Armenia. There he spoke of Your testimonies before kings, O Lord, and was not put to shame. The regent of Armenia converted. But his brother, in a fit of rage, had the Apostle flayed alive. He died like old Job, a witness to the resurrection. I know that My Redeemer lives. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25-27). In weakness, Christ is strong.
So I ask you, what could be more weak than the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is the folly of God’s salvation. It is the weakness of His power. Christ crucified. Lift up your eyes to the hills. To the Hill of Golgotha and behold the greatest thing: Amen, amen, I say to you, Here is heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
Here is the fulfillment of Jacob’s ladder. Recall the patriarch, that Trickster Israel in whom there was much deceit. After tricking his brother and deceiving his father he fled for his life. Camping out under the stars one night with a stone for a pillow he beheld in a dream heaven opened. And a ladder reaching from heaven and resting on the earth. The Son of Man stood atop this ladder while the angels of God ascended and descended upon it. When he awoke he confessed, Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it! How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven (Gn 28:16-17).
To Philip and Nathanael, Andrew and Simon, and to you, our Lord Jesus interprets this text. He refers it to Himself. All of Holy Scripture preaches Him. When the Son of Man and Son of God came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made Man, He opened heaven. Beginning at His Incarnation heaven was opened. And it remains open. It has never closed. Not since His Baptism in the Jordan. Not since His Transfiguration.
Heaven was opened and remains open since His Crucifixion, when the Son of Man was lifted up from the earth, suspended between heaven and earth as a Ladder. He descends to us. And by Him we ascend to the Father.
First He descends to us, into the very depths of our sin. Into our death. So that by His death and resurrection He may chop down your shady trees of lies and deceit, or lust and pride, of vanity and anger. In their place He has planted the Tree of His Cross. As the Psalmist sang: YHWH is your keeper; YHWH is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. YHWH will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.
Dear friends in Christ, heaven is opened to you. Christ Jesus has opened in His death. He came and stood among the Twelve that Easter eve, showing them the openings, the wounds in His hands and side, into which they and you crawl and hide in the day of trouble. Then they were glad when they saw the Lord!
You see those same wounds. You have the heavens opened as the foot of the Ladder which is Christ is firmly placed in this Font. Here Christ Jesus descends to you by water and His Word. And in faith you ascend with Him to life and salvation. Come and see.
The foot of the Ladder of His Cross is grounded here in the pulpit. For the blessed Gospel which St Bartholomew preached is proclaimed here so that you may believe and love it. Come and see.
And there, upon the Altar, the Ladder of the Cross tipped sideways as a Table to serve the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven brought down to you. Here the angels dare to descend and knee before God in the Flesh, hidden in the weakness of bread, in the foolishness of wine. Come and see.
Surely the Lord is in this place. This is none other than the House of God. This is the gate of heaven. Partaking of His crucified, risen, ascended and glorified Body and Blood, you, in fact, carry around in your body, in your jar of clay, the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in your bodies.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Our Lord spotted him under a fig tree. And for that, Nathanael, son of Tolmay, declares Him to be the Son of God, the King of Israel. He is confessing that the Man who stands before him is YHWH in the flesh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the One who walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day and called to Adam and Eve, seeking them out. For having sinned they were ashamed of themselves and tried to paper over their guilt with fig leaves.
But now, by the invitation of Philipp, Nathanael, or as others call him, Bartholomew, is drawn out of the shadow of the fig tree, out of the shadow of death, out of darkness and brought to Jesus, the Light of the world. For He is the Light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. And Nathanael, whose name means, “God has given,” has now been given true faith and a good confession. Even if he doesn’t yet comprehend its fullness.
What of you? What is your condition? In what shadowy darkness do you hide? Under what tree do you seek shelter? Do you find your rest in complaining about others and stewing on their slights? Is your respite in running into the arms of another who is not your wife? Crawling into the darkness of pornography? Drugs? Drinking?
Don’t waste time hiding from your sins. Don’t bother papering over them with figs leaves of lies and excuses. Our Lord sees right through them. He sees right through you. He knows our hearts. We are filled with guile. With deceit. With trickery.
Yet in mercy He still calls you, as He did Philip, saying, Follow Me. He uses the simple invitation of another, Come and see. It ought not be called a “program,” but here, dear Christians, is the greatest evangelism ever. No door-to-door solicitation. No cajoling or scare tactics. No false promises or bait and switch routines. Just a simple invitation: Come and see. Come and see the One of whom Moses preached and the prophets foretold. Come and see the One of whom Solomon spoke and in whom David trusted. Come and see.
And it is not a single use invitation. Not a one-time encounter. You can never say, “I am baptized, that should suffice. I was confirmed, that’s enough catechesis. I’m good.” We can never say, “I can stay away from Church for awhile. It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Our Lord calls Nathanael a “true Israelite,” so as to distinguish him from the false Israelites. From those who boast in their lineage and brag concerning their descendancy from Abraham. They are his children by blood, yes, but not according to the faith. They are false Israelites.
So too their are false Christians. They boast in the same way. “We are baptized and bear the name Christian.” But they do not remain swimming in their Baptism and the pure teaching of forgiveness of sins and the promise of Christ. Rather they fall away into despair and other great shame and vice, neglecting the preached Word.
The genuine Israelite has the promise of Abraham and the faith of Abraham. Studies Moses and the prophets. Seeks the coming Christ as we see in Philip and Nathanael. Jesus found them. But did you hear what Philip said? We found Him. That’s how it feels! We didn’t know what we were missing, but we found Him. It is the same with the Christian in whom their is no deceit, no guile. “When baptized they give ear to the Gospel, read the Holy Scripture, partake of Holy Communion, and love their neighbor” (AE 22:197).
Solomon catechizes his son this way. My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
St Paul learned this lesson well. Our Lord knew him. As He knew Nathanael. He called him on the road to Damascus. He taught this son of Israel what is meant to suffer for His namesake. In affliction and perplexity. In despair and persecution. For only them, in weakness, is God glorified. As he writes later to the Christians in Corinth: To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:7-9).
Nathanael, or as we call him, Bartholomew, likewise learned of this weakness. According to the ancient Church, Bartholomew carried the Gospel of Jesus to Armenia. There he spoke of Your testimonies before kings, O Lord, and was not put to shame. The regent of Armenia converted. But his brother, in a fit of rage, had the Apostle flayed alive. He died like old Job, a witness to the resurrection. I know that My Redeemer lives. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25-27). In weakness, Christ is strong.
So I ask you, what could be more weak than the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is the folly of God’s salvation. It is the weakness of His power. Christ crucified. Lift up your eyes to the hills. To the Hill of Golgotha and behold the greatest thing: Amen, amen, I say to you, Here is heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
Here is the fulfillment of Jacob’s ladder. Recall the patriarch, that Trickster Israel in whom there was much deceit. After tricking his brother and deceiving his father he fled for his life. Camping out under the stars one night with a stone for a pillow he beheld in a dream heaven opened. And a ladder reaching from heaven and resting on the earth. The Son of Man stood atop this ladder while the angels of God ascended and descended upon it. When he awoke he confessed, Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it! How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven (Gn 28:16-17).
To Philip and Nathanael, Andrew and Simon, and to you, our Lord Jesus interprets this text. He refers it to Himself. All of Holy Scripture preaches Him. When the Son of Man and Son of God came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made Man, He opened heaven. Beginning at His Incarnation heaven was opened. And it remains open. It has never closed. Not since His Baptism in the Jordan. Not since His Transfiguration.
Heaven was opened and remains open since His Crucifixion, when the Son of Man was lifted up from the earth, suspended between heaven and earth as a Ladder. He descends to us. And by Him we ascend to the Father.
First He descends to us, into the very depths of our sin. Into our death. So that by His death and resurrection He may chop down your shady trees of lies and deceit, or lust and pride, of vanity and anger. In their place He has planted the Tree of His Cross. As the Psalmist sang: YHWH is your keeper; YHWH is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. YHWH will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.
Dear friends in Christ, heaven is opened to you. Christ Jesus has opened in His death. He came and stood among the Twelve that Easter eve, showing them the openings, the wounds in His hands and side, into which they and you crawl and hide in the day of trouble. Then they were glad when they saw the Lord!
You see those same wounds. You have the heavens opened as the foot of the Ladder which is Christ is firmly placed in this Font. Here Christ Jesus descends to you by water and His Word. And in faith you ascend with Him to life and salvation. Come and see.
The foot of the Ladder of His Cross is grounded here in the pulpit. For the blessed Gospel which St Bartholomew preached is proclaimed here so that you may believe and love it. Come and see.
And there, upon the Altar, the Ladder of the Cross tipped sideways as a Table to serve the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven brought down to you. Here the angels dare to descend and knee before God in the Flesh, hidden in the weakness of bread, in the foolishness of wine. Come and see.
Surely the Lord is in this place. This is none other than the House of God. This is the gate of heaven. Partaking of His crucified, risen, ascended and glorified Body and Blood, you, in fact, carry around in your body, in your jar of clay, the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in your bodies.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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